Earlier this year, Gerry Crispin and Mark Mehler of CareerXroads published their “7th Annual Source of Hire Study: What 2007 Results Mean for Your 2008 Plans” to examine the recruiting supply chain question “Where do we find people?” They invited a group of 200 large (5000+ employees) well-known companies to anonymously participate in the study. A total of 59 companies responded with 49 of these making the final qualifying cut for data reporting. The companies involved were high profile and industry leading retail, technology, transportation, manufacturing, pharmaceutical and finance firms.
It’s important to note the inherent data integrity challenges involved in corporate source of hire (SOH) measurement and reporting. The study addresses these issues in detail and the authors maintain a healthy degree of self-criticism as they express their own perceptions of the data used in the study. In their own words, the study “… is a detailed description of how one group of corporations fill their [US] open positions or, more accurately, what some corporate stafffing functions are able to measure and report as the sources of their hires for the openings they fill.” “… The survey is less about benchmarks and more about SOH practices.” Despite its unavoidable (problematic data) shortcomings, this is a fascinating report that provides useful information and provokes important thoughts and questions.
The key findings for 2007 included:
1. Internal transfers and promotions accounted for 30% of job fills.
2. Referrals (employee, alumni, vendor, et al) accounted for about 28% (according to the chart provided) of external hires. Employee referrals made up 80-90% of the “referral” hires.
3. Job board hires represented about 26% of external hires
4. Company website SOH data is highly suspect. See the report for the reasons why.
5. The most visible trend in 2007 data was the growth of direct sourcing (to 9%+) and a reduction in agency hires (to 3%)
The full report is 23 pages long and is available as a free .pdf download without a required registration. It contains a complete pie chart summary on all reported external sources of hire and provides comparison data for 2005, 2006 and 2007. A detailed breakdown by SOH category reveals and implies further findings, indicators, questions, challenges and trends. The report concludes with recommendations in the areas of corporate SOH data collection methods and utilization.
Generally speaking, aggregate SOH data is hard to come by. This study offers a rare opportunity to review a quality snapshot. It’s an important resource to revisit as you continue to adapt to continuous (mostly technology-driven) changes and develop your 2009 goals, plans, strategies and budgets.
Future reports will help answer questions such as: How will the proliferation of social networking and Web 2.x impact SOH in 2008 and beyond? What changes will we likely see in the referral, job board, direct sourcing, and agency categories?
More info:
Gerry Crispin discusses CareerXRoads 7th Annual Source of Hire Study on Total Picture Radio with Peter Clayton. Gerry Crispins blogs: CareerXroads, ERE
If you’re a corporate recruiting professional, I recommend that you follow Gerry Crispin’s work (if you’re not already) and take a look at getting involved in the CareerXroads Colloquium.
Recruiting Impact 